Four wins in a row to start the IPL 2026, and the Rajasthan Royals looked flawless as they occupied the top spot in the points table early in the season. It was only three defeats in the next four games that exposed their blemishes. If Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal were their strength, with Dhruv Jurel making a decent presence at No. 3, the middle-order emerged as a major flaw for the Rajasthan Royals.
In the first eight games that Rajasthan played this season, the middle-order line-up (4-7) averaged only 21.10, only behind Lucknow Super Giants (18,71) among all the 10 teams, with a strike rate of just 126.35.
However, on Tuesday, chasing 223 on a rather batting-friendly New Chandigarh track, the middle-order batters finally came good, as they carried the momentum that Jaiswal and Sooryavanshi generated to wrap up the game with four balls to spare.
Captain Riyan Parag himself was at the centre of Rajasthan's middle-order woe as he managed only 88 runs in the first eight games this season, averaging well below 15. But against the Punjab Kings, he played a handy cameo, scoring 29 off 16, which included two boundaries and as many sixes, before the fifth-wicket pair of Donovan Ferreira and Shubman Dubey took Rajasthan to the finish line.
However, Parag insisted it was never a concern or area that was addressed in the dressing room, dismissing it as merely outside noise.
"The concerns were apart from us, was from everyone else. Everyone watching, everyone commentating. That was their concerns, not our concerns. We trust our players and their abilities a lot. When the middle-order doesn't fire, the openers, number three and the lower order have to like pick it up. When the middle-order fires and someone from the top doesn't get runs or goes at a slower rate, we pick it up. So as a team, I feel we have confidence and trust in every one of them. All the reasons and all the worries are outside, not for us," he said in the post-match chat.
The crux of the middle-order contribution came from Ferreira, who scored an unbeaten 52 off 26 balls, and Impact Player Dubey (31 off 12) as the pair forged a 77-run stand.
"I think him and Don, the way they played, they took it away from Punjab. I honestly thought it was going to be a very neck-to-neck because they would bowl a little bit more slower balls after watching us bowl it. But yeah, I think the way they batted, immense, like commendable," Parag added.
Required rate had touched 12 when Yuzvendra Chahal dismissed Parag, with Rajasthan needing 72 off the last 36 balls. But with the PBKS spinners bowled out, Ferreira and Dubey cashed in. Arshdeep Singh erred in his final two overs, going for 31 runs, before Dubey took care of Marco Jansen, hitting him for four and a six in the 16th over. Lockie Ferguson too struggled in the death as he was clobbered for 16 runs as Punjab turned the game on its head
“Sooryavanshi, Jaiswal made our jobs very easier as usual”
Ferreira eventually closed out the game in the final over with a six over long-on to help Rajasthan move to the third spot in the points table.
"I think the plan was to keep wickets in hand, but not fall too behind the run-rate. The way the openers went, Vaibhav and Jaiswal, I feel it just made our jobs very easier as usual. But the tough part was after the powerplay, keeping that momentum, keeping going at 10 an over. I think right after the powerplay, we got like overs of five, eight and something like that. So we got behind a little bit, but then we picked it up again," said Parag.